The Ministry of Shipping is increasingly actively discussing the change in the management model of coastal shipping traffic in large ports of the country. The political leadership seems to be considering the creation of a model airports for the ports that have an increased number of simultaneous or very close in time abandoned ships, such as that of Piraeus, Rafina, Kyllini and the Cyclades. The model is proposed by the Ministry of Shipping as a solution to the simultaneous departure of ships and the “pressure” to enter their port of destination first.
It is estimated that this can be dealt with by creating time slots (slots) or else the peak times for the departures and arrivals of the ships are auctioned to the companies and the departure and berth positions are reserved at that time, so that there are no simultaneous arrivals and departures in the ports.
A typical example of the negative consequences of this practice is what the 734 passengers of “Fast Ferries Andros” experienced in September where they stayed inside the ship for about 17 hours while waiting for the chain to disengage from the ship’s propeller and the 391 passengers of “Aikaterini P”, whose bow “touched” the stern of “Andros” after a little earlier the ships’ chains had become entangled in the harbor of Rafina. Corresponding problems are created by its conversion Aegean on a sea rally track, mainly between the speed races of high-speed boats which in recent years have increased significantly, but also the pressure they exert for their simultaneous or earlier departures than conventional ships.
“I declare that I am obsessed with safety,” said the Minister of Shipping before representatives of the country’s port funds, Christos Stylianidiswith the port slots scheme mainly aimed at enhancing the safety of navigation.
“The safety of coastal shipping is for us, at the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy, a first priority” the Minister emphasized during his speech at the specialization seminar on the “Guide for preparing feasibility studies for port projects” held yesterday, at the Foundation Eugenidou.
Responsible for the design of the measure in question, which will fundamentally change the existing system of approval of coastal shipping routes, will be the contractor resulting from a relevant tender. So far, the Coastal Transport Board approves or rejects the companies’ route proposals in usually stormy meetings.
The first attempt
The first attempt to manage arrivals was the creation of a system for cruise ships in Santorini, which although extremely useful and ambitious remained practically on paper. The Berth Allocation System – of Thera Port Fund, was an electronic scheduling system, with cruise lines submitting their request a year in advance for a specific day and time of arrival in Thera, with the system checking the volume of visitors and whether it is manageable from the island’s infrastructure and then approve it or move it to another day or time. At the time it was discussed to set a limit of 8,000 visitors per day. Estimates of visitor arrivals in Santorini this summer from cruise they speak of 1.3 million passengers, while for 2025 they are estimated at 1.5 million visitors, where with rough calculations of cruise ship occupancy they correspond to 10,000 visitors per day for approximately 2 months on the island.
Slots in aviation
A source of profitability for airports and a battle of great competition for companies, is the claim of the most coveted seats reserved for a specific time (slots). Slots are usually reserved twice a year (in the summer and winter season) and are usually closed for the following season. There is an authority that controls what is done at the airports and from which all the companies request the seats. Each company pays a certain amount for the hours each aircraft is on the ground. The shorter this interval, the cheaper the slot.
There is also the possibility of changing/buying and selling slots between companies. The example of the two slots in Heathrow of London that changed hands for $75 million in 2016.